City Poets at WoWFest at LEAF Liverpool

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
Poet Michael Symmons Roberts.

City Poets at LEAF on Bold Street, City Centre 11 May 2018 Tickets from £6.00 — Book now

On right now is the 19th annual WoWFest, brought to Liverpool by Writing on the Wall, the city’s longest running writing and literary organisation. The festival theme of Crossing Borders is being interpreted in this one-off event at LEAF as a celebration of cities across the UK and abroad by poets Paul Farley, Khadijah Ibrahim, Stephen James Smith and our own Michael Symmons Roberts, Professor of Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University and author of collection Mancunia.

Multi-awarding Liverpool-born writer and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s contemporary poetry programme The Echo Chamber, Paul Farley is the author of four highly acclaimed collections of poetry, most recently Dark Film, which was a Poetry Book Society Choice.

Artistic director of Leeds Young Authors, literary activist and writer Khadijah Ibrahim has been hailed as one of Yorkshire’s most prolific poets by BBC Radio, and her collection Another Crossing was published by Leeds-based publishers, and one-fourth of the Northern Fiction Alliance, Peepal Tree Press in 2014. 

Based in another UNESCO City of Literature, Dublin, poet and playwright Stephen James Smith has contributed to the rise of the Irish spoken word scene, and Arlen House publish his debut collection, Fear Not, this spring, and include him in the anthology Reading The Future: New Writing From Ireland.

Find out more about Literary Places in Liverpool in our brand-new guide.

City Poets at LEAF on Bold Street, City Centre 11 May 2018 Tickets from £6.00 Book now

Where to go near City Poets at WoWFest at LEAF Liverpool

Photo of wooden tables and a green leather sofa
City Centre
Restaurant
Bretta & Co

Comprising of a deli and a small restaurant, Bretta & Co looks minimalist, modern and tasteful – the kind of place that puts you in mind of lazy brunches and ladies who lunch.

Liverpool
Restaurant
Food From Nowhere

Food From Nowhere is a weekly vegan cafe held in the basement space of much-loved radical bookshop News From Nowhere. It’s open every Saturday from midday to 5pm.

City Centre
Café or Coffee Shop
Garden Cafe FACT

FACT Liverpool gets back to its coffee-with-creativity roots thanks to a foliage-full new café.

City Centre
Event venue
FACT

FACT Liverpool includes three arthouse cinemas, two galleries, event spaces – as well as an excellent ground-floor cafe and first-floor bar.

City Centre
Café or Coffee Shop
Bold Street Coffee

A super cool cafe at the top of Bold Street, Bold Street Coffee in Liverpool serves a range of specialist coffee, cakes and sandwiches.

Liverpool
Restaurant
Maray

Much-loved Liverpool restaurant, specialising in forward-thinking small plate dishes.

Photo of three Hawaiian beers outside Bier bar
City Centre
Bar or Pub
Bier bar

Bier bar in Liverpool does an impressive range of beers in an inventive setting – might it be the bar Liverpool needs?

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